Newsom gets social media bills
Anti-child profiling measure among two pieces of legislation
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers sent Gov. Gavin Newsom two groundbreaking bills intended to limit the downside of social media, as they faulted Congress for failing to act on the problem.
A first-of-its kind measure would require social media companies to make public their policies for removing disturbing content and provide details on how and when they remove it.
The second bill would require companies that provide online services attractive to children to follow age-appropriate design code principles aimed at keeping children safe. That includes not profiling a child or using the child’s personal information in a way that could harm the child’s physical or mental health or well-being.
“The online world has created tremendous opportunities, but also real and proximate threats to kids, to vulnerable communities and to American democracy as we know it,” said Democratic Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, author of the first bill.
“We believe that California has a special obligation and a special opportunity to lead on these issues,” Gabriel added during a news conference Tuesday. “We’re proud of our technology economy, and we know that many of the companies that these bills would regulate are homegrown California companies. But with dysfunction in Washington, D.C., we believe that California must step up and lead.”
While the measure had bipartisan support, Republican Sen. Melissa Melendez worried that it could be used to punish legitimate but unpopular content.
“I can’t help but wonder if this is not in fact an attempt for the attorney general to perhaps harass the citizens of California, particularly those who have an opposing viewpoint, and I don’t think it is appropriate that the state attorney general get involved in any attempt to censor speech,” she said during debate Monday night.
But Democratic Sen. Thomas Umberg, who carried the bill, said the measure “does not basically censor content … If they have no policy, they have nothing to report. If they do have a policy then they need to report how they’re implementing that policy.”
Opponents include the California Chamber of Commerce, Computer and Communications Industry Association, Consumer Technology Association, Internet Coalition, Netchoice and Technet.
A coalition of opponents said companies already must make public their content moderation policies, and the bill goes too far by requiring them to disclose to the attorney general “sensitive information about how we implement policies, detect activity, train employees, and use technology to detect content in need of moderation.”